In the Flicker
by Burgundy
Summary: Takes place after Vegas episode. Liz wants to tell Max about EOTW events; Max gets a flash from the granilith; read to find out the rest. COMPLETE


Glances in the FlickerTitle: In the Flicker  
Author: Burgundy  
Email: spidermonkey222@springmail.com  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, etc., are mine.  
Summary: Liz wants to tell Max about EOTW events; Max gets a flash from the   
granilith; read to find out the rest.  
Category: Max/Liz  
Author's Note: Occurs after VLV. Feedback welcome!  
  
  
Part 1  
  
Liz sat at her desk trying to read her Chemistry book. A variety of   
alien-related events lately had really cut down on her homework time, and she   
was seriously behind in several classes, especially in doing her chapter   
outlines for Chemistry.  
  
She looked up from her reading, pressed her lips together, and took a deep   
breath. She then stared back down at her Chemistry briefly before biting her   
lip and glancing across the room at her picture shelf. She got up, crossing the   
room to pick up a frame with a picture of her, Maria, and Alex, and flipping it   
over to a strip of 4 tiny pictures of her and Max, the kind taken in a photo   
booth—the ones she had found Future Max looking at so many months ago. She took   
them out of the back of the frame and passed her fingers over his face.  
  
"Lizzie!" She heard her mother's voice echoing up the stairs. "Your dinner's   
ready." Mrs. Parker had made dinner early so that Liz could start her shift at   
the Crashdown on time.  
  
"Coming, Mom!" She called back, quickly replacing the strip of pictures and the   
frame.  
  
* * *  
  
Her shift went rather quickly and routinely until closing, which she and Maria   
had been left to do because Liz's parents had gone to bed early. Maria was   
sweeping and babbling on about how wonderful "space boy" was as Liz wiped down   
the counter and all the tables.  
  
Maria looked over at her friend, her eyes twinkling conspiratorially. "So I saw   
you and Max dancing together and holding hands before we left. Wink, wink."  
  
Liz smiled. "Mmm-hmm." Then her smile faded, and she looked directly at Maria.   
"I almost—he had a flash."  
  
"A flash?" Maria stopped sweeping. "Does he know about…?"  
  
"No. Well, not really. I mean, when he was getting into a cab to go to the   
airport, he had a flash of us getting out of the cab, like we had just been   
married."  
  
"What did you say to him?" Maria asked, sharply taking in a breath.  
  
"I—I said—I said that that was weird," Liz finished lamely, giving the counter   
one last swipe with the wet cloth for good measure.  
  
"What happened then?"  
  
She paused for a moment. "He told me it felt like a real memory, and then,   
well, you stopped singing. The song was over, and we left the dance floor and   
didn't say anything else about it. Although…well…"  
  
"Although what?" Maria prodded.  
  
"I almost—I really wanted to tell him. I want to tell him." Liz bit her lip.   
"But I'm scared.  
  
Maria walked around the counter and hugged Liz.  
  
"I'm so scared, Maria. I don't want to be the cause of the destruction of the   
human race."  
  
"We sound like a B movie."  
  
Liz blinked and gave a tearful little laugh. "You're so lucky, Maria. To have   
Michael, I mean."  
  
"Babe, he definitely has his share of flaws. I mean, just look at his table   
manners."  
  
Liz giggled.  
  
Maria beamed, saying, "There's my girl." She paused for a moment and then   
added, "Look, I know it's hard, but try not to dwell on this right now. We'll   
figure something out. Tess isn't going anywhere; just look at how she's been   
hanging all over Kyle lately." She put her arm around Liz's shoulders, walking   
her toward the back of the café, saying, "Girlfriend, what you really need right   
now is some sleep."  
  
* * *  
  
The late afternoon sunlight shone down on Max as he parked the jeep a ways from   
the entrance of the pod chamber. He couldn't risk anyone finding out where it   
was, and he didn't mind the walk.  
  
The golden sunlight made everything look warm and inviting, even the boulders   
and crags. He made quick progress to the cave, thinking vaguely that he   
probably should have told someone where he was going as he waved his hand over   
the rock to reveal the cave's entrance.  
  
He walked in and stood for a moment just taking in his surroundings. He had   
closed the entrance, and the whole chamber was bathed in an eerie green light.   
Though it was eerie, it was also comfortingly familiar to some part of him, deep   
down.  
  
He stepped towards the pod that led to the granilith and ducked down to climb   
through. He walked down a narrow hallway, at the end of which was a door that   
slid open for him, revealing the granilith. A similarly eerie light emanated   
from the granilith chamber as Max stepped inside it.  
  
For a long moment, he stared at the opaque black inverted cone looming in front   
of him before he walked slowly around it, looking for something, for anything.   
There had to be some sort of clue. Suddenly, Max thought he saw a flicker at   
the base of the granilith. He crouched down to look more closely and reached   
out to run his hand across it. As soon as he touched the base, he was floored   
by a rush of emotions that seemed to be coming from the granilith—fear, love,   
worry, anger, and, most of all, sadness. Reflexes had jerked his hand back, but   
he was still absorbing what had happened. He put his left hand on the floor in   
an effort to steady himself; he felt as though his heart was going to jump out   
of his chest.  
  
* * *  
  
Part 2 (conclusion)  
  
"The emotions were so intense, Is," Max finished, explaining what had happened   
to his sister as she listened patiently, brushing her hair.  
  
"It was just an overwhelming sadness?"  
  
"Well, I was also worried, angry, afraid, and"—the left side of his mouth curved   
up into a half-smile—"in love."  
  
"So what did you do after that?"  
  
"What do you mean?" He gave her a strange, disbelieving look. "I waited until   
my heart stopped racing, and I left."  
  
"You didn't try to touch it again to see what would happen?"  
  
He shot her another strange look. "You're starting to sound like Michael. Why   
are you so impatient?"  
  
Isabel put down her brush. "I don't know. I just—I'm sorry, Max. Why don't we   
hold a meeting tomorrow and see what everyone else has to say?"  
  
"Ok." He started towards the door but hesitated.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It just felt so real. Even though I knew that it was all coming from the   
granilith, the feelings felt like they were my own."  
  
* * *  
  
Max, Michael, Maria, Liz, Isabel, Tess, Alex, and Kyle filed slowly into the   
granilith chamber. It would have been only seven of them, but Kyle was a part   
of the group now. He was the last to come in, staring up at the granilith in   
awe and murmuring, "Wow."  
  
As they all gathered in the front of the chamber, Tess said, "Maybe something   
will happen when we touch it." She reached out and touched the base, but   
nothing happened. Michael and Isabel each tried as well, but with no results.  
  
Liz was standing off to the right side of the group, studying on the opacity of   
the granolith. She reached out and touched it, suddenly crying out and jerking   
her hand back, stepping back into Alex. She had gotten a flash of a future   
version of herself reaching out to touch the granilith with Future Max inside it   
as he suddenly disappeared.  
  
Alex caught her and looked down at her. "Are you okay, Liz? You look like   
you've just seen a ghost. What happened?"  
  
Everyone was looking at her now, and she let out a strangled cry.  
  
Tess stood up and walked over to Liz. "Max said you knew something about the   
granolith that you couldn't tell him. Does that have to do with this?"  
  
Liz had the most horrible look of sadness on her face as she opened her mouth to   
say something but seemed to have temporarily lost the ability to talk.  
  
"Does this have to do with that whole little charade last fall, Liz?" Kyle   
began. "I knew it had to be some alien thing that would make you do something   
like that. I just thought—"  
  
Liz found her voice in time to say, "Kyle! You don't know what you're dealing   
with."  
  
"What are we dealing with, Liz?" Max asked.  
  
I can't"—she looked up to try to keep herself from crying, but it wasn't working   
all that well—"I can't tell you."  
  
Max looked at her penetratingly. "Why would there be something about us that   
you can't tell us?"  
  
Liz put her hand over her mouth in an effort to control her quiet sobs.  
  
Maria, trying to help her best friend, said, "Look you guys, we're dealing with   
the destruction of the human race." That got everyone's attention, Maria   
thought, but stopped herself from smiling. "It hinges on whether or not Liz   
tells you." Liz was just gaping in horror now, but Maria continued, "So I think   
you'd better not—hmm… Well, actually, if—no, she shouldn't tell you."  
  
"If what?" Isabel asked.  
  
"If Tess…" Maria began, but Liz cut her off.  
  
"I think you've revealed enough."  
  
"No. I really think it's okay now. If Tess promises never to leave the group,   
we can tell you—well, she can tell you—what happened last fall."  
  
"Why me?" Tess asked, slightly hurt that she was once again being singled out.  
  
Maria tilted her head and smiled in the sugary sweet way that only she could.   
"Do you promise?"  
  
Tess glanced over at Max, Michael, and Isabel now standing by the granilith, and   
her eyes lingered for moment on Kyle before she replied, "I promise."  
  
Liz's hands dropped to her sides, and she stared at Tess in amazement.  
  
Maria nervously filled the silence by saying, "At first, she even made me think   
that she slept with Kyle."  
  
Max locked eyes with Liz. "I knew you wouldn't…"  
  
"She wouldn't even tell me what was going on," Kyle added.  
  
Michael, who had been mostly silent, suddenly jumped back in with his usual   
impatience. "Sooo… what happened?"  
  
"Well," Liz began slowly, taking a deep breath, "Max visited me from fourteen   
years in the future using the granilith to rip a tear in time space, though   
that's not its real purpose."  
  
"What's its real purpose?" Michael interrupted.  
  
Maria glared at him. "Calm down, space boy; this is gonna take a little while.   
Why don't we all sit down?"  
  
"Just like story time," Michael spat back at her.  
  
After everyone stopped talking, Liz explained what had happened back in October,   
finally finishing by saying, "I wanted to tell you so much, Max. It was worse   
than when I couldn't tell Alex who you were"—Alex gave her a sympathetic   
look—"because you couldn't be there, helping me through. Every day, it just ate   
away at me that you thought I had betrayed you, that you thought I had slept   
with Kyle." Liz paused for a moment, blinking away tears. "That flash you got   
in Las Vegas was real. It really happened in the other timeline. You—he—he   
told me." A little smile played on her lips. "In the Elvis chapel. That's   
why… why I didn't want to go to Las Vegas. Because it would remind me of what I   
had lost."  
  
For a brief moment, everyone stared at her until Maria said, "Don't just sit   
there! Say something! She's had this all bottled up for, like, four months,   
and you aren't responding?"  
  
Kyle said, "Geez, Maria, give us a chance," at the same time that Tess mumbled,   
"No wonder she was so grumpy in Vegas."  
  
Michael looked over at Max. "You had a flash when we were in Vegas?"  
  
But Max didn't seem to hear him because he was concentrating on someone else.   
"Liz…" He went over to her, taking her hands in his and tilting her chin up so   
that he could look into her eyes. "You are so strong, stronger than any of us."  
  
He hugged her tightly, and she whispered, "I've missed you so much."  
  
"I've missed making you smile," he whispered, low enough so that only she could   
hear, "hearing your laugh, sharing my life with you. But now…"  
  
"But now we can start over." She smiled, closing her eyes and inwardly jumping   
for joy.  
  
* * *  
  



End file.
